In a1994 article inRolling Stone, writer Neil Strauss took a deep dive into theNirvanalead singer’s final days, including a look at his lengthy battle with drugs and depression.
“Just blaming it on smack is stupid,” Novoselictold a Seattle newspaperat the time. “Smack was just a small part of his life.” Indeed, Cobain had long suffered from clinical depression, having been diagnosed with it in high school.
“Kurt could just be very outgoing and funny and charming,” Butch Vig, who produced Nirvana‘s landmark 1991 albumNevermind, toldRolling Stone. “And a half hour later, he would just go sit in the corner and be totally moody and uncommunicative.”
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In the days leading up to Cobain’s death, plenty of family and friends had expressed major concern for the rock star, who wasn’t returning anyone’s calls. His mother, Wendy O’Connor, filed a missing person’s report and wifeCourtney Love— who was also detoxing from drugs at the time — hired a private investigator to try and track him down.
Weeks before his suicide, friends and family had also attempted to enact a full-scale intervention to curb his heroin use. Love had threatened to leave him, and Novoselic and Nirvana guitaristPat Smearsaid they would break up the band if he didn’t check into rehab.
Cobain went, but he didn’t stay, walking out of a California clinic two days after he admitted himself on April 1, 1994, instead returning to Seattle.
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Cobain left behind a note, writing at the end: “Please keep going Courtney for Francis,” referring to their daughter,Frances Bean, who was 2 at the time. “For her life will be so much happier without me. I love you. I love you.”
source: people.com
